The column that says 259,000,000 to 1 odds aren’t much to stay up late for, but it’s amazing how many people would quit their job if they won.

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Good morning!

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Looks like the next Code Blue in Bridgeton will be Monday night at the Salvation Army on West Commerce Street, in Bridgeton.

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The only way to tell is to look at the CompleteCare electronic sign on Broad Street in front of TD Bank.

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Letter to Santa.

“Attached you will find the cutest letter to Santa Claus.

“I can't help but to share this letter.

“This is from Cathy Bullock's son, A.J.

“I believe in Santa , A.J.!!

“This is the cutest thing ever!’’

— Sheri L. Calabrese

Curriculum Secretary

Cumberland Regional High School

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Strict new parking restrictions along the Fayette Street side of the Cumberland County Courthouse in Bridgeton will go into effect Monday, Dec. 23.

Official signs will be posted on both the east and west sides of Fayette between Route 49 and Vine Street enforcing a new parking ordinance that creates a more secure perimeter around the courthouse.

The ordinance, passed by freeholders came as a result of a periodic security study conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service, which recommended the “no parking” zone along the Fayette Street side of the courthouse.

No vehicles will be permitted to park on the courthouse (east) side of the street, which will now be a tow-away zone.

On the west side of the street opposite the courthouse, only marked law enforcement vehicles will be permitted weekdays between midnight and 6:30 p.m.

Other vehicles will only be permitted on to park there on weekends, and on weeknights between 6:30 p.m. and midnight.

Once enforcement begins, violators will be subject to towing and fines.

County officials hope residents and others who normally park on that stretch of Fayette street will take advantage of either the new 300-space parking deck behind the new Prosecutor’s Office on Vine Street or the 75-space parking lot at 99 West Broad St.

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Rather than tow, you would think they would try the illegal parker in the courthouse while he's there.

Or is that a city violation?

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“Mr. Hummel,

“I am a close friend of Joyce Vanaman's, who has been helpful with this effort (as she is with so many good projects in Millville).

“Invitation attached with details. Also, history of Holly Farm and the individuals being honored.

“Mr. Daniel Fenton's widow, Katherine, still resides in Millville and she is thrilled we are able to hold this ceremony during the 12 Days of Christmas while her son, Danny, who resides in Cuba, is home to participate. (Mrs. Fenton is 94 years young!)

“Her daughter, Kathy, is attending, as well.

“You will see under the acknowledgments that many of your good friends and acquaintances from the Holly City are involved:

Kim Warker Ayers

Jim Quinn

Jim Hurley

Jane Christy

Holly Society

George Mitchell.

“This is entirely a community-initiated event.

“No governmental agency is sponsoring the ceremony.

“Folks in Millville came together to do what should have been done long ago — honor the gentlemen who made the Millville Holly Farm possible, acknowledging in permanency what many of us recall as an asset to the community, a successful marketing concept, and a great holiday memory.

“Thank you.’’

— Bob Friant

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Honoring the original founders, managers and champions of Millville's Holly Farm, who cultivated and nurtured one of the largest holly orchards in the country earning our community distinction as the "Holly City of America’’ on Friday, Dec. 27, at 2 p.m., in the Holly City Family Center, 309 Buck St. (Buck & Mulberry streets), Millville.

Please utilize main entrance to the Holly City Family Center.

No RSVP required

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The story:

Clarence Wolf looked out his office window one late afternoon to see one of his workers drive by with a load of holly.

Curious, the then-owner of New Jersey Silica Sand Co. dashed outside to find out where the man found the berry-laden boughs.

The answer would one day result in Millville holly not only decorating the White House and hundreds of other homes during the holidays, but growing all over the globe.

Ultimately, Wolf’s curiosity that day sometime in the 1930s earned Millville the designation, “The Holly City.”

Wolf’s worker had cut the holly from hundreds of native trees growing on Silica Sand property.

And Wolf, a religious man who had come to Millville in 1918 as principal of Millville High School, decided to send boughs of holly to his customers nationwide instead of the customary cigars or whiskey.

His Christmas gifts were instantly successful, with executives and secretaries alike calling to request an extra bough.

One year, much to Wolf’s dismay, the holly was berryless.

Although horticulturalists did not yet fully understand the cycle, a late spring frost when the trees were in bloom had probably nipped the berries in the bud.

Wolf sent out the berry-less boughs anyway, hoping the barren branches weren’t indicative of a trend and wondering how he could guard against a repeat in the years to come.

Meanwhile, Daniel Fenton had graduated from Rutgers University in 1940 and settled in Millville to teach agriculture and science at the high school.

When World War II broke out, he left and returned in 1944 with his wife, Katherine, hoping to teach again.

While waiting for a position to open, Fenton went to Wolf to ask about a job. Wolf, who had begun a holly orchard, assigned Fenton the task of taking care of his beloved holly.

Together, Fenton and Wolf moved holly trees from the woods to their newly-founded “holly farm,” a site on Sand Company property, where they would receive better care and perhaps protection from the frosts that stole berries.

First with bonfires and later with wind machines imported from California, Fenton guarded the trees.

The wind machines were similar to those used in orange groves and circulated warm air with cooler air kept below the trees, keeping the tender holly buds from freezing.

Fenton also learned to propagate, and over the years developed 14 varieties of holly, including Mamie Eisenhower and Eleanor Roosevelt, which grow with other varieties on the White House lawn.

Fenton co-founded the Holly Society of America, became president of Silica Sand after Wolf’s death in 1965 and, with several investors, bought the 55-acre holly farm after Silica Sand was sold.

People flocked to the farm to wander among the holly trees, shop in the gift shop and visit the cottage where furniture and window frames were made of holly wood and the china featured holly patterns.

Fenton’s wife, Katherine, would often be found in the shop greeting visitors and pointing out the unique holly-themed features of the building.

Fenton’s namesake and brilliant son, Danny, worked in production at the farm and later in sales, promoting container-grown holly varieties, four-inch “Jolly Holly” rooted cuttings with berries and bagged Christmas holly boughs in a 10-state market area.

A heart attack in 1980 forced the senior Fenton to stop work and eventually the farm was sold.

His lifelong passion was holly, never once getting up in the morning and dreading going to work, said his wife, Katherine, who still lives in the Holly City with a yard peppered with her late husband’s holly.

Among the trees is the "Dan Fenton" holly developed by Dr. Elwin Orton, a research horticulturalist at Rutgers University, and planted several months before Fenton’s death at 69 in 1988.

Fenton was known as “Mr. Holly” and is credited for planting more than 4,000 holly trees.

Claude Reed, another civic leader in Millville who befriended Wolf and then Fenton, became one of the earliest advocates of promoting the farm and its products nationally and internationally. He believed associating Millville with the warmth that holly engenders during the holiday season would result in a positive image for the community and reap long-term benefits for the town he loved.

Working tirelessly with Fenton, the two were able to interest news journalists in larger markets, primarily Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C., to spread the word of Millville’s Holly Farm and the joy that Millville holly brought to thousands.

As a result, United Press International and the Associated Press news services ran annual stories on their respective national and international wire every Christmas time for three decades touting the farm, and Millville’s place as one of the largest suppliers of holly in the world.

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Al Scarani’s Gulf station in front of RiverWalk senior apartments in Bridgeton is the second oldest Gulf station in the state.

Now, we can turn it into a Gulf Co. museum funded by Gulf or a Gulf museum/Bridgeton museum or the newest Popeye’s Chicken in the world.

You would think it would be a desirable site on the Cohansey River and on the main drag for some business.

Of course, we said the same thing about the gas station across from the courthouse when it was for sale.

Are you telling us that the only thing that would benefit from courthouse and lawyer/Social Security office foot traffic are the Coach Room and a gas station.

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MY KIND OF TOWN: Where the leader of a city doesn't want ot speak to his people after a fatal crime?